ON THIS DAY: Croatia Were in the Football World Cup Final…for 60 Seconds
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
17 years ago today Croatia were for a few brief moments in the final of the football World Cup…
The date was 8 July 1998, the occasion was the FIFA World Cup semi-final, the venue was the Stade de France in Paris, and Croatia’s opponents were hosts France.
When Davor Šuker latched onto a penetrating through ball from Aljoša Asanović in the 46th minute to give Croatia, playing in their first ever World Cup, a 1-0 lead, Croatia were in the World Cup final. The euphoria only lasted 60 seconds before Lillian Thuram spoilt the party by scoring twice to end Croatia’s dreams of a World Cup final. Croatia managed to lift themselves a few days later to beat Holland and claim bronze.
